'Collapse of protection': UN decries killing of over 1,000 aid workers in last three years

At least 326 aid workers were killed in 2025, among more than 1,000 killed in the past three years, including 560 in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the UN humanitarian chief said, decrying the slayings as "a symptom of a lawless, bellicose, selfish and violent world".

The killings last year took place in 21 countries, Tom Fletcher told a Security Council meeting on protecting civilians in armed conflict on Wednesday.

At least 1,010 UN aid workers were killed over three years, "almost tripling the death count" of 377 from the previous three years, he said.

"This is not an accidental escalation; it is the collapse of protection," Fletcher said, noting that UN member states sometimes carried out the killings.

"These humanitarians were killed while distributing food, water, medicine, and shelter. They died in clearly marked convoys and on missions coordinated directly with authorities."

Fletcher continued: "These trends, alongside the collapse in funding for our lifesaving work, are a symptom of a lawless, bellicose, selfish and violent world. Killing humanitarians is part of the broader attack on the UN Charter and on international humanitarian law."

Fletcher challenged the Council on why such killings were continuing to take place.

"Is it because member states see these numbers as collateral damage, part of the fog of war? Or worse, are we now seen as legitimate targets?"

From October 2023 to August 2025, Israel killed over 500 workers in Gaza alone, including 346 UN staff and 51 from the Palestinian Red Crescent. Ambulances have been bombed, food distribution points shelled, and convoys fired upon.

Other places where aid workers were killed in the past three years include Sudan (130), South Sudan (60), Ukraine (25) and DRC (25).